Microceratus (meaning "small-horned") is a genus of small ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous period in Asia. It walked on two legs, had short front arms, a characteristic ceratopsian frill and beak-like mouth, and was maybe 2 feet (0.6 m) long. It was one of the first ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs, along with Psittacosaurus in Mongolia. It is the smallest ceratopsian dinosaur known. Microceratus was lightly built and was probably a fast runner. Its shin bones were almost as twice as long as its thigh bones-a sigh of a speedy dinosaur. It may have moved on all fours as it fed on plants, rising up on two legs to escape from danger.
Fact File
- Size: 24 in (60 cm) long
- Order: Ornithischia
- Family: Protoceratopidae
- Range: Asia: China, Mongolia